Gm, here’s a few thoughts:
I spoke with Jeremy quite often over the last few months re: paths forward to Y2 funding. He’s well-spoken. He cares deeply about his position at Orb. At no time did I find him to be acting in bad faith.
I watched the Aura Maxis draft the well-researched proposal, above, over the course of several weeks. It’s a research doc. It lays out facts. The BIP makes no mention of bad faith, nor implies bad faith.
Inexperience, however, is not bad faith. Incompetence is not bad faith.
To be clear, I’m not suggesting that this is the case here. These are just counterexamples as the conversation seems to have gotten very sidetracked. I don’t believe anyone is here to point fingers–what’s done is done. We’re here to move forward.
I read all 4 of Jeremy’s posts today, twice, and came away with the impression that I had read nothing at all. Jeremy is an excellent verbal communicator, but a poor writer. His composition style is very corporate, glossy, but lacks precision. There’s a tendency towards self-aggrandizement as well, one reason why results rarely meet expectations. I’ve told him this directly–the very first time we chatted, in fact–and encouraged him to step aside as the voice of Orb, let others speak for themselves, as his public presence often creates more problems than it solves.
To illustrate, I’d like to pose the following question: Does anyone know how much Jeremy’s salary is?
If not, then I’d say that we have a problem here. Our Maxis asked me that same question and I answered in 10 seconds. It’s on-chain. And if so inclined, we could all go count Solar’s fortune at balancermaxi.eth. And, yes, I understand that there may be privacy issues or this factor or that factor at play in this specific example–it’s just one example out of 40 that I could list. At Orb, there’s simply too much comingling of responsibilities and funds, too much opacity, too much silence, from a SP that’s so vital to Balancer. This needs to change.
We’re all sympathetic to the current plight of Orb employees. This BIP was not designed to be antagonistic nor callous. As written, this BIP honors the original funding period. There’s no mention of stripping salaries from any active employee. This BIP proposes a seemingly logical transition partner in Beets, in an attempt to provide employees w/ a soft-landing, should they so choose. Jaoabrunoah makes a great point, however–some may not want to work w/ Beets. And that’s okay. I’ve already recommended to the authors that Beets be removed from the BIP. In the larger scope of things, marketing and integrations make more sense as separate SPs anyways.
This BIP’s purpose is to: 1) formalize Orb’s end date, 2) give generous notice to current employees, so suitable continuing arrangements within the Balancer ecosystem can be made, 3) provide our community with sorely needed clarity into Orb’s closing operations, and 4) this BIP is ultimately a vote of no-confidence in Orb’s present leadership to adequately perform these tasks.
They say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Jeremy would be a good politician–that’s a compliment. However, this role isn’t necessary in decentered orgs, which require forthright and open communication. In the absence of a suitable trustee, it seems logical to allow the Balancer community to have oversight into these final days, through clear communication and proper governance.
This post isn’t meant to be a love letter to Jeremy, however. Orb’s failure is not his alone. Orb’s failure is shared amongst all of us, for not insisting on a transparent, results-driven funding process. This is what the current BIP seeks to change, and to do so in a way that respects both the community and those that continue to dedicate their time and energy to improve the protocol we all adore.